


Hindsight and All That

by SingingInTheRaiin



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: A lot of Walking, Canon Asexual Character, Elias is not immune to Jon's eyes, Gen, Happy Ending, Jon is a good person, Jon loves cats, M/M, it's the apocalypse but most people aren't doing too bad, or is it...?, post episode 160
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:55:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22845181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SingingInTheRaiin/pseuds/SingingInTheRaiin
Summary: In the thick of the apocalypse, Elias realizes that this isn't what he really wanted after all, so he tracks down Jon in the hopes that the two of them will be enough to save the world.
Relationships: Elias Bouchard/Jonathan Sims, Georgie Barker/Melanie King, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims (implied)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 63





	Hindsight and All That

Elias could hear the sound of car alarms going off up and down the street, and he cursed under his breath. Whatever had set them all off was definitely not going to be anything friendly, and he didn’t really want to Look and know what it was. For as much as he’d always believed that knowledge was power, it turned out that knowledge was pretty useless when monsters roamed the world freely and had essentially nothing that could stop them. 

He still firmly believed that it was inevitable that one of the entities would eventually have a successful ritual and get through, but he was starting to think that maybe his idea of pulling all of them through at once had not been his brightest moment. In his defense, it had seemed like a good idea at the time.

Now he just needed to find Jon, assuming that the man was even still alive. If there was anyone that would be useful in putting an end to all of this, it would be the person who contained all those statements of fear, and more importantly, how the statement-givers had each survived their encounters. Elias had a backup plan in place, but it would be useless without Jon there to activate it. 

Elias had tried Looking for Jon, but hadn’t been able to find him yet. Whether that was because the apocalypse had strengthened Jon’s Archivist powers or because it had killed him, Elias had no clue. He was sure that he’d be able to figure out something or other regardless of whether he had the Archivist’s help, but he couldn’t deny that it would be a lot easier to work with Jon on this. And of course, there was no question that if Jon was still alive, he was trying to find a way to put an end to this disaster (though there was a question of whether he’d even be willing to work with Elias, but that was a bridge that could wait to be crossed). 

As Elias contemplated whether he should just get rid of whatever was causing the disturbance on the street or just move on himself, he heard the sounds of shouting outside. It took him longer than it probably should have to realize that they weren’t the terrified screams of people who were about to get killed, and that in itself made the situation more interesting. 

Elias closed his eyes, and found immediately that there were three people out there- but he could only See two of them. One was an avatar of the Dark, and the other was… Georgie Barker. Which meant that the third person out there was probably Melanie King, and he had to admit he was a little surprised that she was still alive with her disability. Elias let out a frustrated groan. Of course he couldn’t avoid troublesome people even now. Though what were the odds of them being so close by when they were so far from the city that they’d all started out in?

It would probably be best to avoid those two- even if there was nothing they could do to permanently harm him, he’d rather avoid getting punched in the face by either of the women, since one was freakishly tall and the other was very muscular. But on the other hand, they were friends of Jon, and he really did need to find the Archivist sooner rather than later if he wanted to put an end to all of this mess. 

And if Jon was still alive, it would probably go a long way with him if he could see that Elias had helped save people that he cared about. So Elias gathered up all of his torches, let out a brief noise of irritation, and then headed outside into the metaphorical storm. 

He paused on the doorstep of the building he’d been squatting in when he realized that the women did not seem to need his help at all. Melanie was directing a heavy looking flood light at the Dark avatar, while Georgie swung a baseball bat at him over and over until he was unconscious on the ground. 

Elias must have made some kind of noise without realizing it, because Melanie suddenly jerked her head in his direction. She was wearing a pair of dark aviator sunglasses, but they didn’t hide the dirty white bandages that were wrapped around her head. 

Georgie immediately followed Melanie’s lead, and there was a guarded look in her eyes. “And who’re you supposed to be?” She didn’t sound at all impressed, or scared (though he at least understood that second part). 

Elias cleared his throat. “Yes, this is not an ideal situation, but-”

Melanie tensed up as soon as he spoke. “Elias!” she growled out. “I’ve been wanting to meet you again!”

Her declaration immediately made Georgie scowl at him, and she shifted into a pose that made it clear she would spring out and attack. “Have you been following us?”

Elias scoffed. “As if I’d have nothing better to do during all of this.”

The silence stretched between them, and then Georgie held up her metal baseball bat, fingers gripping the handle tightly. “I don’t believe in coincidences. If you’re not following us, then that means you’re looking for the same thing as us.”

Ah, now it made sense. While he was sure that they had other friends and family to worry about, they were probably looking for Jon for the same reason as Elias- because he was clearly the person in the best position to stop this. Elias could only hope that the reason Jon hadn’t ended it yet was because of a lack of knowledge on how to, and not because he had already perished. “I am looking for Jon,” he admitted. He hoped that a little bit of honesty would go a long way with them even though they really had no reason to trust him.

Georgie squeezed her bat tighter. “Well tough luck, then, because we’re not letting you get anywhere near him.”

Elias sighed as if this whole thing was just one big irritation to him. “As much as I’m sure he appreciates your loyalty and willingness to go to bat for him, so to speak, I can assure you that it is in everybody’s best interest that I find him. Unless you’d like for this apocalypse to continue on forever?”

Melanie set turned off the light she was holding, and the sudden darkness around them took a moment for Elias’ eyes to adjust to. “You really expect us to believe that you want this to be over? It’s your fault that we’re all in this mess to begin with! You’re the one who wanted to-”

“Yes, yes, I know,” Elias said shortly. “But believe me when I say that I would have done things differently if I’d known that it would be like this. I’m not exactly thriving in the position of power that I thought I’d be. In fact I’d even go so far as to say that things were much better for me before all of this, besides the part where I was in prison.”

Even without their help, Elias was confident that he’d be able to eventually find Jon. But if he could convince them, then that would only aid him in his effort to convince Jon of his sincerity. “I mutilated myself to get away from you,” Melanie said slowly. “Do you really think that there’s anything you could say that would make me want to help you with anything?”

Elias shrugged. “At this point, the entire world is royally screwed. Do you really think that I could make things any worse?”

Perhaps Elias was getting too old, because while he spoke to Melanie, he didn’t pay enough attention to Georgie, until there was suddenly a loud crack of pain against the back of his head, and then everything went dark.  
,,,

Elias slowly returned to consciousness to the sound of arguing voices. “-bring him here! Are you insane? He’s finally safe from- from all of it, and you want to drag him back in?” That was Martin’s voice, sounding much more fierce and more present than the last time Elias had heard it.

“We don’t want to hurt him,” Georgie said in a gentle voice. “But if Jon’s the one who started this, then he might be the one who can stop it.”

There was the sound of feet shuffling around and fabric shifting as arms were waved through the air. “This isn’t Jon’s fault,” Martin insisted, with the tone of someone who’d made the same argument many times before despite nobody having listened to him. “If it wasn’t for Elias then we’d have all been fine. Why didn’t you just kill him?”

“Why Martin, I don’t recall you being so bloodthirsty,” Elias murmured. He forced his eyes to open, even though he knew that the light would only exacerbate his splitting headache. 

He tried to sit up, only to find that he was handcuffed to a pipe that felt pretty solid. He turned his head instead, to try and get a better idea of where they were. It was a small, well-lit room. There were a couple of sleeping bags rolled out on the floor, a messy stack of books near the sleeping bags, a small wood stove against one wall, a few pots and pans near the stove, and a shelf with various canned and boxed foods on it. Martin, Georgie, and Melanie were all standing in the center of the room, but most notably was the lack of one Jonathan Sims. 

Martin crossed his arms over his chest as he glared at Elias. “Just shut up. You don’t have the right to talk.”

Of course Elias ignored that. “And where is our dear Archivist?”

Melanie stomped over and kicked him in the leg with more force and precision than he would have expected from someone with no vision. “That’s none of your business,” she growled. 

“I’m afraid that you made it my business as soon as you kidnapped me,” Elias informed her in what he hoped was a pleasant enough voice. He didn’t want to let any of them think that he was bothered by the situation for even a moment. He knew that his smug and over-confident demeanor had served to cause a great deal of annoyance to these people in the past, and he didn’t want to give that up now when it was all he had. 

Georgie gently grabbed Melanie’s arm to pull her away from Elias, and then she turned to look down at him with a blank face. “Tell us what you want with Jon.”

Elias heaved out a long sigh. “I’ve already told you. I want to put an end to this unfortunate situation and restore the world to its status quo, as it were. I believe that Jon is capable of being very helpful towards me reaching that goal, and I assume it is something that all of you want as well. You don’t have to like me, or even trust me, for us to work together on this.” He made a show of looking around the small room, as if he expected the Archivist to pop out of some previously unnoticed hiding spot. “So where is he?”

“He’s not here,” Georgie informed him in a neutral tone.

Elias had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. “Yes, that much is obvious, thank you. When will he be back, then? I hardly think he’d mind cutting his little vacation short if it means fixing everything.”

Martin and Georgie both looked at each other and exchanged some kind of silent conversation. It ended with Martin throwing his hands up and storming outside, though the door slammed shut behind him before Elias could get more than a glimpse of outside. He could just Watch Martin to figure out where they were, but he figured it would be more conducive to his situation if he stayed focused on the two ladies who were still in the room, one of whom looked eager to lay into him. 

Elias just tilted his head back and raised one eyebrow as he waited for one of them to speak. After a few seconds, Georgie’s shoulders slumped down. “We don’t know where Jon is,” she told him, clearly watching him like a hawk to see how he reacted to that news.

“George-” Melanie started to hiss, but Georgie reached out to grab one of Melanie’s hands and give it a light squeeze. Melanie shut her mouth, but continued to scowl. 

Elias frowned. “I find that hard to believe, considering the conversation that I woke up to.”

Georgie shrugged one shoulder. “Well we don’t,” she said, putting more emphasis on the word ‘we’. “Martin won’t tell us. All he’s said is that Jon is somewhere safe.”

“Ah.” So then Martin was the one to convince. It shouldn’t be too difficult, if Elias just focused on pointing out how much Jon would want to see his friends, and also how Jon desperately wanted to be a good person and would therefore want to help. Martin had always been the weakest of the group anyways, and when it came to Jon he was even worse, so while this wasn’t as ideal as having Jon already in this place, it was still not the worst case scenario. At least Jon was still alive, which meant that there was still hope.

He almost would have suspected Georgie of being able to read minds when she spoke again, but perhaps it was just that Elias wasn’t as good at hiding his emotions when he was suffering a bad headache and a potential concussion. “If we couldn’t convince him to bring us to Jon or to bring Jon here, what makes you think you’ll have any better luck? If there’s one thing that Martin is determined to stay strong about, it’s protecting Jon.”

Elias sighed. “Jon hardly needs protecting from me at this point. By now he’s come into his powers quite nicely, and I’m sure that he’s more than capable of taking care of himself. The fact that I couldn’t just track him down on my own seems like more than enough proof of that.”

Neither of them responded to that, and instead they just walked over to the opposite corner of the room to whisper among each other. Elias figured that they wouldn’t be saying anything relevant to him, so he just set his head back down on the ground. He wondered if he’d be smacked for requesting a pillow or something (he didn’t even bother to entertain the idea of asking to be unbound). 

Eventually Martin returned, though he still looked like he was very unhappy with everyone else in the room. He whispered something to Georgie, who gave him a long look before nodding once, and then he made his way over to Elias, though he was careful to stand outside of kicking range in case Elias got violent. He put his hands on his hips as he leaned over to look Elias in the eyes. “What exactly do you think Jon can do to change things that you couldn’t just do on your own?”

Elias shrugged, and tried to ignore the stiffness in his shoulders from being stuck in this position for so long. “He’s the Archivist, which comes with a unique set of abilities that are entirely different than mine. He has a lot of knowledge of the entities, perhaps even more than I do at this point, and he can read statements. If the written word could be used to bring about the apocalypse, then who’s to say it can’t be used to reverse it? Honestly, Martin, do you really think that I would go through all the effort of trying to find him if I didn’t think he could help?”

Martin narrowed his eyes and squinted suspiciously at Elias. He was clearly long past the days of blindly trusting the people around him. “I don’t know what you think about anything. Maybe you want to help. Or maybe you just want to attack him or use him to make yourself stronger in this new version of the world, or-”

Elias sighed. “I don’t know what more I can say to convince you that I’m telling the truth. Just think of what Jon would want in this case. If he thinks that there’s even the smallest chance that he could help fix things, I’m sure he’d want to take it. Does he even know that I’ve been looking for him?”

There was a minute of silence, and then Martin took a few steps back. “You’re out of luck. All of you are. I never expected any of you to come looking for him, let alone all three of you, but here you are. The truth is that I have no idea where he is either. He- he left. Right at the beginning. Not even a full twenty-four hours into this hell, and he took off while I was sleeping. I tried to look for him, but he didn’t leave behind any clues, and I don’t- this is all he left.” He fumbled to reach into his pocket for a moment before pulling out a creased piece of paper, and tossing it to the ground. “Whatever it is that you think you can do to fix this, well, you’ll have to figure it out on your own.” Then he left again, the door slamming shut behind him with a ring of finality to it.

The following moment of quiet was more awkward than Elias cared to admit, and he was grateful when Georgie carefully picked up the paper that Martin had thrown down. Her eyes scanned over it carefully, and then her shoulders slumped down. “Oh that idiot,” she said softly.

Melanie reached out to carefully touch Georgie’s arm. “What does it say?”

Georgie only glanced at Elias for a moment before she began to quietly read out the note that Jon had left for Martin. She didn’t speak so quietly that Elias couldn’t hear it, though. “‘ _Martin- Despite what you insist, I know that this is all my fault. Even if I did not choose to become a monster, I did not fight hard enough against such a transformation when I had the chance, and now I have brought about the end of the world. You are so strong, and I know that you can survive this, but not if I’m there to drag you down. You deserve so much better than someone who spent years berating you and only noticed your true worth when you were no longer a constant in my life. You have made it through everything else that has been thrown against you, and I know that you’ll make it through this too. As for me, I need to go. I heal too quickly now for me to rid the world of one more monster, but at least I can make sure that I am too far away to harm anyone again, including you. Especially you. There’s more that I should say, but I’m at least not selfish enough to say it when I know that I will never see you again. Please don’t look for me; I will not be found. Take care of yourself, Martin. And most importantly, find other people, because you shouldn’t have to ever be lonely. -Jon_ ’”

Melanie turned away with an angry look on her face. “That idiot.”

Georgie didn’t respond to that, she just looked over at Elias. He did a good job of refraining from pinning the blame for this on Melanie, for her constant distrust of Jon that surely wore away at him and only made him believe even more that he was becoming a monster, and instead just gave Georgie an expectant look as he waited for her to speak. “Well, if you really did only come here for Jon, then that means you can leave now.”

Elias nodded. “Yes, it does.” He gave her a searching look, trying to make sure that this wasn’t all part of an elaborate scheme to send him away. But the emotions he’d seen on Martin’s face seemed too real to have been just an act, and Georgie and Melanie had both seemed genuinely surprised by the contents of the note. “So if you’d just unlock these cuffs, I’ll be on my merry way.”

Melanie shook her head. “No way. We’re not just going to let him go! Not after everything he’s-”

It was clear that Georgie was torn on the matter, and Elias couldn’t say that he blamed her. If he had any enemies that were so much more clever than him and had spent years making him dance around (which of course would never happen because there was hardly anyone who was capable of controlling him), he’d probably want revenge when the opportunity occurred as well. But Georgie only really had secondhand stories to go by, as she’d never personally experienced Elias’ particular brand of employment. And he also knew that even if she didn’t fear anything she faced out in the apocalyptic world, she still wanted it to be over because she didn’t want anyone she loved to be in danger. 

After a few long seconds passed, she finally reached into her pocket to pull out a key, and knelt down next to Elias. “You’re a piece of shit,” she said in an almost pleasantly conversational way. “But if you can put an end to this, then who am I to stop you?” She lowered her voice, though Elias couldn’t tell if she was trying to hide her next words from Melanie or not. “You’re going to keep looking for Jon, aren’t you?” She didn’t wait for him to answer before continuing. “Just- just make sure that he’s- well, as alright as anyone could be throughout all of this. Based on what he wrote, he’s probably insisted on staying by himself this whole time, and that would already be enough to mess anyone up. Just watch out for him.”

“I will,” Elias told her, and he was as surprised as she was when he sounded solemn enough to be making a vow. There was a little click as the handcuffs popped open, and Elias eagerly pulled himself free and got to his feet. He rubbed at his wrists, though the cuffs had been left loose enough that there was very minimal bruising. “Well, I’m off now.”

He didn’t wait for any last words, he just left the small room. When he stepped outside, the sun was nearly blindingly bright, and it took him a moment to adjust. Once he could see clearly again, he noticed the figure hunched over by a wide tree, staring glumly at the ground. Elias opened his mouth, but then changed his mind and closed it again. There was nothing he could say to Martin that would make Martin feel any less hurt, and for once, Elias wasn’t in the mood for making the younger man upset. It was probably just because he had better things to be doing (and not because he might feel just the tiniest bit guilty for his part in all of this).  
,,,

Without being able to use the Eye to find Jon, Elias thought that it would end up being a much more difficult task than he could have hoped for. But purely by coincidence, he wandered upon a small group of people who said that they’d been saved from monsters by someone matching Jon’s description. Somehow it hadn’t occurred to Elias that Jon would be willing to leave his self-imposed isolation for the sake of being a hero. He probably thought that he had to do it to make up for being at the heart of the apocalypse in the first place. Or maybe he just genuinely wanted to help.

Either way, once Elias had figured it out, he found that it was surprisingly easy to follow the trail of grateful survivors. Some had never even seen Jon’s face, and thought they’d just had a stroke of luck, but Elias learned what signs to look for, and he continued to chase after Jon. 

It seemed that Jon was constantly on the move, though, probably afraid that if he stayed in one spot, he might find himself caring too much about the people around him. Or maybe he was just as afraid of the monsters as everyone else (everyone aside from Miss Barker, that is). It was difficult to get a good read on Jon when Elias didn’t have the ability to directly Watch him. 

Elias chased after Jon for months before he finally, unexpectedly, managed to catch up. He had grown used to the routine of always showing up just a little bit too late, so he was taken by surprise when he spotted Jon. Though it did take him a few seconds to recognize the Archivist. 

Jon looked exhausted and utterly worn down. His hair was pulled back in a messy braid that went almost all the way down his back, there were dark circles under his eyes (which were almost blocked by the glasses that he was still wearing even though he surely didn’t need them to see anymore), his clothes were faded and held together by various patches and bits of mismatching thread, and despite having no new visible scars, there was a weariness about him that made it seem as though he had gone through a great deal of trials in the nearly full year since the apocalypse has started. 

Elias just observed for a few minutes, making sure that he knew where all of the exits were so that he’d be able to give pursuit if Jon tried to run for it. Elias watched as Jon made his way through the small grocery store, carefully selecting items to put into his handbasket. 

When he was done, he shuffled towards the counter, where there was a young woman leaning up against the register, looking unimpressed. “Really? You think that a map is worth that much?”

There was hardly anything in the basket, probably just enough for an average human to survive- though Jon could probably live on very limited food with the rate his body healed out, but that wouldn’t prevent him from feeling the pain of starvation. Jon just sighed, and looked tired as always. “This map is. Unless you already happen to know off the top of your head where all the safe zones are.”

The woman seemed doubtful, but after a few moments of deliberation, she finally nodded. Jon fished a folded up piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it over, and waited for the woman to unfold it and look it over before she gave a single nod. Then he left.

Elias ducked out of the way, and then followed Jon out of the store. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t just reveal himself immediately, but some part of him thought that it was important to know what Jon was up to, since some of the food in his basket was frozen, which indicated that Jon had some kind of base where he could either store it or heat it up.

He followed Jon a couple of blocks away from the store, and then watched as Jon walked up to a house and knocked on the front door. When it swung open a moment later, Elias could see a boy standing there, no older than twelve or thirteen, and there was an even younger boy clinging to the teen’s leg. Jon thrust the basket into the teen’s arms. “Here. It isn’t much, but it’s the best I could do. Now be smart, and don’t let yourself get caught stealing again. Your brother needs you, and you can’t take care of him from a jail cell.”

Jon turned to march off, but the teen reached out to snag his sleeve. “Wait!” Jon glanced back in bemusement, and the boy sighed. “I just- thank you. Maybe some towns take care of each other, but it’s not like that here, and I appreciate you looking out for us when no one else would.”

The look on Jon’s face was almost enough to be considered sappy. “You’re welcome. And if you’re ever in the position to do so, pay it forward, alright? There are a lot of people suffering, and I think just about all of them would agree that any little bit helps.”

Then he walked away, and after a couple of seconds, the teen gently closed the door. Jon paused in the middle of the street, and then turned so that he was looking directly at Elias. He didn’t look angry or afraid, just a little confused. “What are you doing here?”

Elias reluctantly shuffled away from the tree he’d been standing behind, and walked up to Jon. “Would you believe me if I said that it was all just a coincidence.” The snort Jon let out in response was answer enough, and Elias couldn’t help offering a small smile. “Believe it or not, I’m not very satisfied with how all of this has turned out. And as much as I’m sure you don’t want to hear it, I’m fairly certain that the only way to change anything is if you and I are able to work together.” 

It was strange not being able to get a read on a person when they were standing right in front of him, but Jon must have gained just as much power from this apocalypse as Elias had. Jon had always been such an excellent Archivist. 

He waited patiently for Jon to say something, prepared to be punched if that’s what Jon needed to do to feel better. But then Jon’s shoulders just slumped down, and he jammed his hands into his jacket pockets. “I don’t trust you, but I’d have to be the most selfish bastard on the planet to turn you down if there’s a chance we could really put an end to all of this. But I’m warning you now- if you try anything funny, I’m going to make you regret it.” He spoke in such a calm voice, like he had no reason to prove with his words that he was telling the truth. It sent a shiver down Elias’ spine, and he couldn’t deny that there was something quite lovely about seeing Jon so confident in himself after being a complete mess for years. 

Elias nodded in agreement. “No funny business,” he promised. “We’ll put everything back to normal, and then that will be the end of that.”  
They started to walk, though Elias wasn’t sure where exactly they were headed. After a minute, Jon suddenly bumped his shoulder up against Elias’. “Oh, and by the way? I want a raise.” Elias just laughed, and it felt surprisingly good. There hadn’t been many reasons to laugh lately.  
,,,  
As they walked through an abandoned city, Elias noticed the way that Jon kept shivering even though it was the height of summer. “Are you coming down with something?”

Jon shot him an annoyed look. “I can’t even keep a scratch for longer than a few seconds, do you really think I can catch a cold?” he snapped. Then he took in a deep breath and slowly let it out as he reached up to rub at the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry, it’s just- there’s something so wrong about there being no people here.”

Elias gave him a curious glance. “You don’t think that the remaining residents are people? Do you not think of yourself as a person?” Jon’s silence answered the question, and Elias frowned as he tucked that away in the back of his mind.  
,,,

When they were finally far enough away that Elias felt it would be safe for them to collapse to the ground, panting for breath, that’s what they did. Once he had enough air to breathe properly again, he tipped his head in Jon’s direction. “Please do tell me what your exact thought process was when you threw a rock at a lion’s head.”

“Hey, in my defense, I wasn’t aiming for her head. I thought if it hit something behind her, she’d turn around and get distracted.”

Elias rolled his eyes. “Right, because the Hunt is so well known for getting so distracted by small noises that they forget about their prey.”

Jon just shrugged, and then flopped back so he was looking up at the sky. He bit his lip, but Elias could already see the way his shoulders were shaking, and a moment later, he couldn’t contain his laughter. “Did you see the look on her face? I bet no one’s ever dared throw a rock at her before!”

Honestly, Elias shouldn’t encourage such foolish, reckless actions, and yet he found himself starting to laugh as well. Once they were both breathless again, Elias laid back as well, and crossed his hands over his stomach. “I wonder if those people who are so far gone now will be restored to their former selves once this is all fixed.”

That was a sobering enough thought that it drained the air of any remaining drops of mirth. “I don’t know,” Jon murmured. “And I don’t get to say that very often these days.” They both stared up at the sky somberly, and tried not to wince in unison when the sky stared back.  
,,,

Jon rolled his eyes. “Yes, because I’m sure a Leitner is the worst of our problems when there’s an actual apocalypse going on.”

“I’m only saying that you should proceed with caution if you’re going to insist on opening the damn thing. The entities being more present in our world doesn’t take away the power that the books already contain.”

Jon sighed at Elias’ perfectly reasonable words, but he didn’t put the book down. “Come on, admit it. You’re just as curious as I am to see what’s inside.”

Unfortunately, Jon was right. But Elias wasn’t going to admit to such a thing, because he needed Jon to end the apocalypse, and whatever potential benefits a Leitner might provide them with were far outweighed by the many potential disastrous outcomes. So he snatched the book out of Jon’s hands, and held it up over his head, taking some smug satisfaction in knowing that Jon wouldn’t be able to reach it. 

He should have known better than to think Jon would just give up there, though. One of the things that had made him such a good candidate in the first place was his insatiable need for knowledge. Jon lunged at Elias, and Elias had to quickly dodge to the side. Neither of them had bodies that were built for fighting, but like many others, they’d been forced to adapt and get stronger over the past year. Or at least get smart, in Jon’s case, since his fast healing unfortunately meant that he was incapable of building up more muscle mass. 

When the direct attack didn’t work, Jon stepped back, hands up in a universal gesture of surrender. Elias didn’t believe it for a second, though, and he didn’t lower his arm or loosen his grip on the book. He just waited, curious to see what Jon would do.

He watched as Jon grabbed Elias’ satchel that had fallen to the floor, and he dug through it with determination. He pulled out a bundle of statements- the only remnants of his institute that Elias had been able to take with him. It had been difficult to leave behind the place that he had built and cultivated for over almost two hundred years, but he hadn’t exactly had time to pack up all of his mementos before the police showed up. 

Jon pulled one of the statements out of the stack, and Elias wondered if he was going to read it. As far as he was aware, Jon had not read a single statement since the start of everything (not that he could really blame the Archivist for that, considering the way Elias had used that hunger against Jon so expertly). 

But Jon didn’t read off of the paper; he just held it with both hands and then slowly pulled until it tore in half right down the middle. The sound of the paper fibers being forced apart seemed to echo through the entire room, and Elias didn’t miss the slight wince that came from Jon as he destroyed a source of knowledge. Then he slowly turned the two halves on their side and ripped them again, and then repeated that a few more times until the statement was nothing more than some confetti that gently fluttered down to the floor when Jon let go of it.

Then Jon held up the rest of the stack like it was a weapon. “The book for the statements. That seems like a fair trade.”

Elias was a stubborn man at times, but when Jon pulled loose another statement and held it up, Elias let out an annoyed sigh, and tossed the book through the air. Jon quickly caught it, and then set the statements down on the table behind him. “Thanks.” 

As Jon flipped the book open to start skimming through it, Elias couldn’t help letting out a small chuckle. Jon’s eyes flicked up over the rim of his glasses, and Elias shrugged one shoulder. “I can see why you and Martin care for each other so much. You’re very similar.” He wanted to ask if Jon knew about Martin’s specific distraction tactics when the others had been on their way to stop the Unknowing, but at the mention of Martin’s name, Jon seemed to shut down entirely. 

He closed the book with a sharp snap that seemed to echo for a few seconds. “Martin and I aren’t- well it’s none of your business anyways.” He slammed the book down onto the table, and then stormed out of the room, arms crossed over his chest. Elias just watched him go, and wondered why he’d felt the need to say anything at all.   
,,,

One of the many downsides to being a patron to the Eye was that there was no benefit of superior strength or offensive skills. Elias could fight with his words and what he could read from his opponent's thoughts and memories, but that wasn’t a particularly effective strategy against an entire group of people.

They’d been ambushed while they were settled in for the night (neither of them required sleep, but it was still a comforting ritual to go through the motions of). Elias tried to subtly look around for Jon, but he didn’t see any other bound up bodies in the chilly basement he was trapped in. 

Elias focused back on his enemies. He didn’t even need to look into their minds to figure out who they served; the burn marks all over the walls and the singe marks on Elias’ clothes told him everything he needed to know. What he was less sure of was why they had kidnapped him and kept him alive rather than just killing him on the spot. Not that he was complaining, but it did seem like a relevant question to ask. 

As a couple of the Desolation idiots approached him, Elias sighed and steeled himself for what was sure to be a painful interrogation. But before any of them could even touch him, there was the sound of loud screams coming from upstairs. The two kidnappers exchanged a panicked look, and then raced back up there. 

Elias closed his eyes to See what was happening. He saw two badly misshapen figures lying on the floor of what seemed to be an ordinary, if somewhat dusty, living room, and Jon stood behind the bodies, clutching a wide hose with both hands. “Who’s next?”

One of the kidnappers gave Jon an uncertain look. “But Jude said you-” 

“I don’t care what she might have told you,” Jon interrupted. “All that you need to worry about is what I’m about to tell you. You can walk away right now, and maybe I’ll even be nice enough to let you drag your friends off with you so that you can revive them. Or you can stay where you are, which happens to be in my way, and I will have to forcefully move you out of my way. The choice is yours.” He didn’t raise his voice at all, and didn’t try to hide his usual exhaustion, but the kidnappers both seemed to agree at the same time that it wasn’t worth the risk of going up against him. 

They grabbed the lumpy human-ish looking people off the floor, and then hurried away. Once they were gone, Jon dropped the hose, and headed down the basement. Elias opened his eyes, and then raised one eyebrow. “Took you long enough to get here,” he drawled.

Jon rolled his eyes, and then paused halfway across the room. “Hm. Since we’re here and you’re like this anyways, now might be the perfect time to ask some questions.”

“You know you could just compel me to answer you at any time.”

Jon shrugged. “Yeah, but you’d enjoy that far too much. So instead we’re going to play a game where you answer my questions honestly, and I’ll consider cutting you free.”

“Alright then, ask your questions.”

Jon hesitated, like he hadn’t actually expected Elias to agree so easily, but honestly, what did Elias have to lose? He didn’t think there was anything that could be revealed now that he either hadn’t already been willing to share, or that Jon didn’t already know anyways. “How did you find me? When we bumped into each other three months ago?”

“When someone commits a random act of kindness, especially with the world the way that it is, people are bound to remember. You left a trail of your good deeds, and I simply followed it until I caught up with you.”

Jon frowned. “Do you honestly believe that we can stop the apocalypse?”

Elias nodded. “If we work together, and make it back to London, then yes. I believe that there is very little that you could not do if you put your mind to it.”

For some reason, that made Jon’s cheeks darken slightly, and he hurried on to his next question. “You said in your final statement that you chose me because I was already marked by the Web. But surely there are others who worked at the Institute who had already been marked by some entity or another? I imagine that a great deal of them, in fact, specifically wanted to work there because they had already been touched by a fear. So why would you choose me? Was I just the only one around who seemed dumb enough that you could actually fool me into ending the world?”

There was no good answer to that question, because truthfully, Elias hadn’t given it much thought. He’d seen Jon come into the Institute marked by the Web, decided it was a sign, and then hadn’t bothered to look at any other potential candidates for the job. But he already knew that that wasn’t what Jon wanted to hear. He wanted to know what he had said or done that had made him deserve to get drawn into the plans that had been set into motion so long ago. “You’ve always enjoyed learning new things, haven’t you? Asking questions about anything and everything because you wanted so badly to know how it all worked? That desperate need to know is perfect for the Eye. Others had joined the Institute to research and learn, but none were quite like you.”

He waited for Jon to acknowledge that, and then to ask his next question. But Jon seemed to live to surprise Elias, because instead he just walked over and sliced through the ropes that were keeping Elias bound to an uncomfortable folding metal chair. He stood up and stretched, then rubbed at his wrists to try and return his circulation to normal. “We should get going,” Jon muttered. Then he turned and left the basement without another word, and he didn’t glance back at Elias even once as they returned to their camp to grab their things.   
,,,

Elias watched as Jon made silly faces at the baby in the crib. “I know it probably doesn’t seem all that urgent to you to fix the world, but we are, in fact, working on a tight schedule. We are not here to babysit.”

Jon ignored Elias as he scooped the baby up, and bounced her up and down a few times just to listen to her delighted shrieks. The noise was quite grating, and Elias wondered how Jon could possibly enjoy it. “We’ve got enough time to wait a few hours for your mummy to get home, don’t we?” The girl giggled, and it made Jon give her a wide grin.

Something in Elias’ chest felt odd at the sight of Jon smiling at the baby girl. It was probably heartburn. Once everything was back to normal, he’d have to pick a younger body to hop into, because clearly this one was reaching its limit. “Jon-”

Jon turned towards Elias, and then turned the baby so that she was also facing him. “Come on, we can’t just leave her here alone. And her mum will be back in a couple of hours. She’s trying to get back sooner, but there’s a massive roadblock from a meat sculpture. She’ll be fine, but it just means she’ll have to take a bit of detour.”

Elias had never been great with small children. The younger they were, the harder it was to see any tangible thoughts, which meant that it was more difficult to control them. And he simply did not have the patience to try and figure out what they wanted when they could barely communicate, and they had no appreciation for any good literature.

So no, Elias did not care for children at all- especially not babies. And there wasn’t anything different about this particular little girl that should have made him change his mind. But when he looked at Jon’s big, pleading eyes, he found himself giving in far too easily. “Fine. But don’t expect me to change any diapers. I’ll be downstairs.” 

Elias occupied himself for a couple of hours, until he Saw that the girl’s mother was on her way back. And he knew that she would not be happy to see two strange men in her home, even if they had only been there to look after the child that she’d left behind. 

He went upstairs to grab Jon so that they could leave before there was any trouble- they could easily defeat the woman if she attacked them, but there was no reason to let it come to that. He poked his head into the baby’s room, and then paused in the doorway.

Jon was sitting in the large recliner chair in the corner of the room, head tipped back as he snored lightly. The baby was lying against his chest, also sleeping. Something about the sight was so peaceful that Elias was loathe to disturb it, and he just stood there and watched for a few more minutes before he knew that there wasn’t any time left.

He walked over and gently tried to scoop up the baby, but Jon’s arms immediately tightened around her and his eyes snapped open. He stared at Elias for a moment before relaxing and letting go. Elias put the girl back in her crib, and then nodded towards the door. “We should leave before the mother gets home.”

Jon sighed, but he didn’t try to argue. He started to follow Elias out of the room, but he stopped abruptly next to the crib so that he could lean over and press a kiss to the girl’s forehead. Then he hurried after Elias, who was polite enough not to comment on any of that.  
,,,

Elias did not expect to get woken up from a lack of oxygen, but honestly at this point there shouldn’t be anything left that surprised him. He opened his eyes, and was also aware of the taste of fur in his mouth, and he was suddenly struck with the very strange fact that there was an animal lying on his face.

He sat up, displacing the animal, which he could now see was a particularly fluffy cat. “What-?” The cat just stared up at him reproachfully before hopping off the bed and sauntering out of the room.

After taking a few moments to collect himself, Elias got out of bed and headed downstairs. He walked into the living room (empty of everything but a single couch), and saw Jon absent-mindedly stroking the cat curled up on his lap as he used the cat to prop up the book he was reading. Jon looked up when Elias didn’t move further into the room. “Oh, sorry if she woke you. Don’t worry, I already gave her a bath and everything.”

Elias frowned. “Jon, I sincerely hope that this is just a misunderstanding caused by interrupted sleep, but surely you cannot be intending on keeping that thing?”

Jon shrugged, and seemed unbothered by Elias’ concern. “She’s cute, and she needs a home. And she- she reminds me of the Admiral. I haven’t given her a name yet, don’t worry. I thought it would be nice to wait so that we could pick one together.”

“We are not keeping the cat,” Elias said through gritted teeth. “We don’t need another mouth to feed or another body to look out for. We aren’t exactly on a vacation, here. Things are only going to get more dangerous the closer we get to London, and we cannot afford to have you constantly distracted by the safety and wellbeing of some stray that you’ve decided to adopt.”

None of his logical arguments seemed effective, though, because Jon just continued to pet the cat like there was no problem. “It’ll be fine. She’s survived this long on her own, so there’s no reason she won’t be able to keep looking after herself.” Even though he spoke in a soft voice, there was a certain amount of hardness just beneath the surface, making it quite clear that he was not going to leave the damn cat behind. “And if you really don’t want to travel with her, then we can just go our separate ways and meet up in London.”

Of course Jon knew that there was no way Elias could agree to such a thing. There was far too much risk when it came to being alone in this new world, and if either of them were killed, the chances of anything getting fixed were next to none. Not to mention that Elias felt a certain amount of… distress at the idea of Jon getting killed without Elias there to help him. 

He didn’t say anything, because he didn’t want to actually agree to the insane idea of taking a pet on the road with them. He just turned and went to the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea. Elias knew that Jon would understand that he wouldn’t keep arguing, but that didn’t mean that Elias was even close to being happy with this arrangement.  
,,,

He had just known that the cat would cause problems. Even knowing full well that Jon would not be killed by such an ordinary injury, Elias couldn’t help it when the less rational side of his mind screamed out that Jon was dying and there was nothing he could do about it.

There was so much blood spilled out across the grass, though with only the moon to provide lighting, it almost didn’t look like blood. Elias kept his hands pressed firmly down on the shirt he’d grabbed out of his pack to put on the wound, and tried not to listen to the pained, wheezing gasps that Jon let out. 

The stupid cat (which Jon had ended up naming Jonah- most likely just to annoy Elias) just sat nearby and watched as the only person who cared about her lay dying after protecting her from danger. If he wasn’t so worried about Jon, Elias thought that he might be tempted to just strangle Jonah right then and there (and god, that was a bizarre sentence to even think). 

It felt like years passed, even though it couldn’t be more than a couple of minutes, before Jon’s breathing began to even out, and there didn’t seem to be so much blood pouring out. After another couple of minutes, Jon carefully sat up, and Elias leaned back.

Jon gingerly grabbed the ruined shirt and used it to try and wipe away the blood that was still all over him, but it was a fruitless effort, and he tossed aside the stained cloth. Elias reached out almost without thinking, and brushed his fingers over the smooth skin of Jon’s chest. There was no sign of the danger that had just occurred, only a couple of faded scars that had been there long before Jon had been hired at the Institute, and some smaller scars from Jane Prentiss’ worms. But there were no new marks that came from the fatal injury, and Elias wasn’t sure why that bothered him so much.

He felt a slight shiver from Jon, and then suddenly realized how long he’d been touching the other man. He quickly yanked his hand away like he’d been burned. Elias cleared his throat a few times. “We should probably find some shelter for the night.” Then he quickly got up and took a few steps away.

Elias could feel Jon’s gaze heavy on his back, but neither of them said another word. Elias didn’t even bother letting out a token protest when he saw out of the corner of his eye as Jon scooped up Jonah, and carefully carried her along. He couldn’t really tell Jon to leave the liability behind, not when they checked into a cheap motel room and Elias scrubbed the blood off of his hands only to return to the main room and find Jon with his face pressed into Jonah’s fluffy fur as his shoulders shook ever so slightly. 

Elias wondered if he should say something, but in the end he had no idea what he could possibly say that would be comforting to Jon, so instead he just curled up on the other bed, and rolled onto his side so that he was facing away from Jon. 

When the silent tears didn’t ease up, Elias ended up slipping into Jon’s bed and wrapping his arms around the other man, holding him close. He tried to tell himself that it was just because Jon needed the comfort, but if he was being honest, Elias needed it just as much.  
,,,

They reached the outskirts of London in the early morning of a bright, sunny day. Elias thought that seemed like a bad omen, like they were being tricked into thinking that everything was safe and fine, but Jon seemed downright cheery about it, so Elias couldn’t find it within himself to voice his concerns.

London wasn’t as abandoned as some of the other cities they’d come across, though none of the people around seemed friendly towards strangers. They didn’t have the same mentality as most of the small towns they’d passed through, where all survivors were welcome to stay and be safe. There was too much distrust among the city-dwellers, even before the apocalypse had started.

As they got closer to the center of the city, there were less and less people around. Though Elias did not sense any lack of avatars, and he was sure that Jon could feel them all too. They both seemed to collectively decide not to say anything about the many threats around them, though.

After they’d walked for a couple of hours in silence, Elias was almost startled when Jon spoke. “You know, this is almost nice. I don’t think I’ve ever really taken the time to just look at the city before. It’s awful that so many people had to leave, or- but it is peaceful when it’s this quiet.”

“Yes, it is a rare treat to not have to deal with the usual sidewalk crowds,” Elias agreed. “Though you wouldn’t hear me complain if a cab driver or two had decided to stick around.”

Jon laughed, and the two of them continued towards their destination. The complete silence around them still left Elias feeling uneasy, but that very brief conversation with Jon had been enough to lighten his mood for now.

By the time they reached the Institute it was late afternoon, but since they were going to be wandering through the tunnels anyways, it didn’t really matter that they wouldn’t have much sunlight. Jon took a deep breath, and then they went inside.

It was a mess for sure, with furniture destroyed, papers scattered everywhere, books torn to shreds, and large pools of blood around unrecognizable corpses. The police would have at least cleared away the blood and bodies in the weeks before the apocalypse had started, which means that these had all happened after the apocalypse. Elias wondered if these people had come crawling to the Institute in hopes of finding protection. If they had, then they’d clearly been sorely mistaken. There was nothing left of the Institute now, nothing besides the physical building itself. All of the protections in place, and the many things Elias had done to preserve his legacy, were all long gone. It felt almost as though the building itself was just a corpse, too large and dull to even notice that it had died and was supposed to have fallen already.

They should have just headed straight for the entrance to the tunnels, but Elias had to admit that he was curious about the state of his office. He ignored Jon’s grumbled complaints about having to go up so many flights of stairs, but he followed Elias anyways.

The office door was partially open, and Elias pushed it the rest of the way to step inside. He looked around, and he wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but he found that he was disappointed. Anything of value had been taken long ago, and the plaque on the desk that said ‘Elias Bouchard’ on it had been carved on so it said ‘Ass Butcher’ instead. The large portrait of himself- of his original self- that used to hang behind the desk had been torn out of the frame, and was lying on the floor, crumpled and graffitied on so that Jonah Magnus’ face had a clown afro and a large mustache. 

Jon reached out to lightly rest his hand on Elias’ arm. “We should go,” he reminded Elias softly. “It’s just a picture, and maybe it’s what you looked like, but that was so long ago, it doesn’t even matter anymore.”

Elias didn’t bother to try and explain why it mattered so much to him. He got the feeling that Jon already knew, but was trying not to seem like he had pried into a personal issue. So he just nodded, and followed Jon back downstairs, down to the archives.

The precarious stacks of file boxes that used to line the halls and form something of a maze were all either gone or knocked over, and there was a thick tar-like substance splattered around. They carefully avoided stepping on the sticky looking puddles, and made their way to Jon’s old office.

There was nothing personal left inside, though Elias couldn’t say whether that was because Jon had been able to grab it all before he and Martin had left, or because it had been stolen at some point. Jon didn’t make any comments on it, he just crouched in front of his desk, and pulled out the middle drawer all the way. Then he reached back, straining somewhat to reach what was jammed all the way in the back, behind the drawer itself.

He finally pulled his arm free, and held up the small keyring. “Aha.” Armed with the keys in one hand and the cat in the other, Jon led the way to the trap door that went down into the tunnels. Once they were down there, Elias turned on one of the torches he’d brought, and led the way.

The trip to the old prison seemed to somehow simultaneously take much longer than usual, while also feeling as though it took no time at all. He and Jon made their way up the stairs to the top of the panopticon, and then paused in front of the body that was still there. Elias found that he definitely preferred to see his old face in a tasteful portrait.

They just stood there for a few seconds until Jon cleared his throat. “So now that we’re here, what exactly am I supposed to do?”

Elias shook aside his thoughts of the past, and then knelt next to the body so that he could rummage through the pockets. “I figured that this would be pretty much one of the safest hiding places around. The odds of anyone actually finding this place are very slim, and even if they did, most people prefer not to touch such old bodies. And… aha!” He pulled out a yellowing piece of paper, and carefully unfolded it. “Even when I was certain that I was doing what would be best for me, I still made sure to have a backup plan. Here.”

Jon gingerly accepted the paper, and held it by the corner with just the tip of his thumb and pointer finger, like he was afraid that it would explode. Then he carefully handed Jonah over to Elias so that he could concentrate on the paper. Elias took the cat, and adamantly refused to pet her (it would only fuel Jon’s ridiculous theory that she’d grown on him). 

He watched as Jon’s eyes scanned over the paper, and then he finally looked back up at Elias with his eyebrows furrowed. “Uh, I hate to say this, but I think that you are vastly overestimating my power. This isn’t…” He trailed off, like he didn’t even know how to properly protest.

Elias leaned back against the metal railing behind him. “Well then humor me and read it anyways. Worst case scenario is that nothing happens, and we’re no worse off than we were before.” Before he even finished speaking, Elias could see in Jon’s eyes that if this didn’t work to fix things, Jon was probably going to go crazy (or at least crazier than most people were these days). “You were able to bring all of this about, so why do you feel so strongly that you can’t undo it all?”

Jon lowered the paper for a moment so that he could give Elias a long, searching look. “Will this- will it kill me?”

It wasn’t something Elias had really given much thought to. It’s not as though he was trying to save the world for any noble purpose, so in the beginning it had only mattered to keep Jon alive long enough to get him here. And now… after the past few months, Elias couldn’t imagine living in a world without Jon in it. He didn’t know how to say that and make it sound sincere, though. So he just shrugged. “I suppose it depends on how you define the concept of ‘self’.”

Jon rolled his eyes. “Right, why would I have expected anything other than cryptic philosophy?” He reached up to run a hand through his long hair, and then reached out to pet Jonah instead. “Promise you’ll take care of her? I know that you actually do like her, no matter how much you try to deny it.”

There were many things Elias could have said in response to that, but then he decided that if Jon did die tonight, he deserved to at least hear some honesty in his final moments. “I promise.” He hesitated for a moment, and then reached out to lace his free hand through Jon’s. “I’ll stay here with you until the end.” And he could only hope that Jon heard what he was really saying. The intense look in Jon’s eyes seemed to indicate that he did, and he gave Elias’ hand a soft squeeze before he took a deep breath and started reading.  
,,,

Elias made his way to the main pit of researchers. He’d already made his choice on who would succeed Gertrude, and now that the old bat was out of the way, it was time for him to follow through. He had a good feeling about Jonathan Sims’ potential to be the Archivist.

The man seemed flustered, but overall grateful for the promotion, and he was quick to follow Elias back to his office so that they could fill out the paperwork. Elias almost made a joke about Jon now having permanent job security, but he managed to refrain from doing so.

After discussing Jon’s new job, and all of the duties that it would entail, it was finally time for him to pull out the contract and hand it over. He watched as Jon read through every word of it, clearly a more intelligent man than most, even if he was still foolish enough to fall into this trap in the first place. Elias wanted to snap at Jon to just sign the damn papers already, but he forced himself to be patient. He had already waited almost two hundred years, and he could afford to wait a few more minutes. 

Jon surprised Elias once he finished reading over all of the details. “There are a few points on here that I wonder- are they open to negotiation?”

Elias frowned, and leaned forward in his seat. The terms of that contract were very fair, at least from Jon’s perspective. “Like what?” He found himself bartering back and forth for the better part of two hours before they’d finally reached conclusions that satisfied them both. If Elias didn’t want Jon as his Archivist, he would have suggested a career in contract negotiation.

Elias gave the marked up papers to Rosie so that she could type out new clean copies, and then it was finally time for Jon to sign on the dotted line. Jon scribbled his name out where he was supposed to, and the moment he lifted his pen off the paper, the lights in the office flickered off for just a moment.

When they came back on, Jon jolted up out of his seat, and looked around the office with wild eyes. “What the hell-?” Then his gaze locked onto Elias, and his mouth gaped open almost comically wide. “Elias? But I don’t…” he trailed off as his attention seemed to have been caught by his own hand, and he ran his fingers over the smooth skin of his palm. “Oh.” Then he looked back up at Elias, and this time there was an almost mischievous look on his face. “I guess this means game on.”

Elias’ frown deepened as he assessed the sudden change in demeanor. He tried to take a quick glance into Jon’s mind to see what had happened, but to his utter shock, he couldn’t See anything. He thought that it might be best to try and figure out what the hell had just happened. “Mr. Sims, I’m afraid that I don’t-”

Jon easily interrupted, though, like he had already forgotten that Elias was his boss. No, not forgotten; he just didn’t care. “I have a fascinating story to tell you. And believe me, you’re going to want to hear this. I know how much you love hearing stories about yourself. Now, should I call you Elias, or Jonah?” 

And all Elias could do was stare at the man in front of him, the one who had been polite and soft-spoken and had definitely not known of anything more supernatural than a Leitner just an hour ago. “Why don’t you take a seat?” Elias offered, grateful that he managed to make himself much more calm than he felt. The way Jon looked at him as he sat, though, gave him the feeling that Jon knew exactly how he felt anyways.  
,,,

Perhaps it should have been upsetting when Elias had learned, just over four years ago at this point, that all of his plans would inevitably end in disaster if he went through with them. Plans that he had worked on for so very long, but in the end, he found that he could not be too upset, because he had found something even better along the way.

He finished up what he’d been working on, then he packed his briefcase and headed down to the basement. Jon was still in his office, though there was no response when Elias knocked lightly on the glass pane. That wasn’t unusual; Jon rarely paid attention to the world around him when he got caught up in his work.

Elias pushed the door open slightly, and then just stood there and listened as Jon finished recording the latest statement that he had come across. Once the recorder clicked off, Elias cleared his throat, and Jon looked up almost like he was surprised. “Oh, sorry, I’ll be right there. I didn’t realize it had gotten so late.”

“That’s alright, take your time.” He waited while Jon packed up his things and pulled on his jacket, and then the two of them headed home for the night, linked together at the elbows as they walked and enjoyed the fresh air that came with a cool spring night. “I have a surprise for you,” Elias murmured as he pulled out the keys to get into their flat.

Jon gave him a curious look as he stepped past Elias into the entryway, and then paused in the middle of unbuttoning his coat. “Are those… pet toys?”

“Cat toys, to be specific,” Elias helpfully informed him. 

That immediately sent Jon running off through the flat, though he returned quickly with his prize in hand. A fluffy looking cat that had been a pain in the ass to track down was in Jon’s arms. It was worth the trouble, though, because Jon’s eyes showed that he was clearly already madly in love with the creature. “This looks just like her! Oh, she’s perfect, thank you.” 

The two of them curled up on the couch together (or the three of them, if one were to count the cat), and Jon rested his head against Elias’ shoulder. Elias wrapped his arm around Jon’s shoulders, and leaned over to press a light kiss to the top of Jon’s head. “Thank you for stopping me from ruining all of this,” he murmured. Right now, life was pretty much perfect for him. 

(Though even as they sat there, Elias couldn’t help thinking that Jon was still far too human, and therefore far too fragile. If there was anything worth gaining more power for, it would be to preserve all of this. But Elias refrained from saying that, because he knew how much Jon would disapprove. For now, he was content to just sit around and enjoy the wonderful peace.)


End file.
